Bottle cap



I. ROSS] ET AL Oct. 30, 1951 BOTTLE CAP 9 nu w INVENTORS [Pm/4' Poss/Mum/w Que/4m? ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 30, 1951 BOTTLE CAP Irving Rossi,West Orange, N". J and William Dubilier, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Original application July 12 1944, Serial No. 544,614, now Patent No.2,445,889,, dated July 27,1948. Divided and this application July 19,

1948; SerialNo.39,433

4 Claims. I

This application is a division carved out from application Serial Number544,614, filed July 12, 1944, entitled Thermoplastic Devices, now PatentNo. 2,445,889, dated July 2'7, 1948.

The present invention relates to resilient bottle caps or closures, moreparticularly to devices of this type made of a, synthetic compositionsuch as of thermosetting or thermoplastic material.

Synthetic composition materials, such as polymerization or condensationproducts or thermoplastics, are both cheap and attractive and can beeasily formed or molded to any desired shape. Their us has, however,been limited in the past to such cases where only a limited mechanicalstrength and resiliency were required, due to their low elastic limit,to their fatigue resistance or creep recovery and lack of othernecessary or desirable mechanical characteristics. In particular, ifsubjected to tensile stress, the material would follow only slowly andgradually the applied force or removal of such force, thus making itsuse impractical and prohibitive for many applications where aquick-acting spring action free from fatigue effects and other desirablemechanical characteristics such as high strength were required.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention is to generallyimprove the mechanical characteristics of bottle caps or similar closuredevices made of synthetic composition material;

to increase the mechanical strength of a cap or closure device of thistype; and to impart additional resiliency or quick-acting spring actionto such caps in the perispherical direction.

The composition materials useful for the invention may be of any of theclass of known synthetic products, such as aldehyde condensationproducts, cellulose derivatives, vinyl resins, acrylite or methacryliteresins, polystyrene or polyamide plastics (the latter being well knownunder the trade name of nylon on the market) and similar syntheticplastic or thermoplastic materials known in the art.

The invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in reference to the accompanying drawings forming partof this specification and wherein:

Figure 1 is a cross-section through a bottle neck with a closure capapplied thereto and constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cap embodied inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing a modified bottle capconstruction according to the invention;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the cap embodied in Figure 3 and Figure5 shows a portion of the skirt of the cap of Figures 1 and 3 stretchedor developed to a plane surface.

Like reference characters identify likeparts in the different views ofthe drawing.

With the aforementioned and other objects in view, the present inventioninvolves generally the provision of a ring-shaped resilient metallicinsert consisting of thin spring metal and being completely embedded inthe skirt portion of a bottle cap, to provide both additional mechanicalstrength and quick-acting resiliency to the cap and to insure a hermeticfit with the neck of a bottle or other container. More particularly, thev invention proposes the provision of a thin expansible and contractiblering-shaped metal strip or insert provided with a series of slots orother recesses and being embedded in the thermoplastic material toprovide the required mechanical strength and quick-acting spring actionof the composite cap structure, which the synthetic material alone lacksOther'advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and will inpart become apparent from the followingdescription and exemplifications,as shown in the drawing.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown at it theneck of a bottle such as a milk bottle terminating in a head I l towhich is applied a cap I2 made of synthetic such as thermoplasticmaterial and held by resilient or spring action independently of anyother fastening. The cap l2 has a cylindrical skirt 5% formed with alower portion MS of increased thickness to provide added mechanicalstrength and to enable a quick-acting circumferential expansion orcontraction of the cap by the .irther provision of an elasticorexpansible metal ring it embedded in the skirt [3, in the manner shownin the drawing.

The normal inner diameter d of the skirt i3 is somewhat les than theouter diameter d of the bead ll so that the cap may be applied andforced over the neck of the bottle to snap into position as shown inFigure 1. There is thus provided a cap or contracting member whichpossesses a greater tendency to urge the skirt l3 to hug the neck of thebottle than exists if a cap of thermoplastic or equivalent materialwithout the expansible and contractible member I5 were used. The inner.edge of skirt [3 is advantageously bevelled or rounded as shown in IS insuch a manner that downward pressure on the cap will readily expand andforce the skirt over the bead II to cause the cap to snap into positioninstantly.

In the preferred construction as shown in Figure 5, the metal insert ltakes the form of a thin cylindrical metal ring of spring metal such assteel, phosphoror beryllium bronze or the like, and being provided witha series of transverse slots 20 and 2| extending alternately to theopposite edges and overlapping each other in the center. In other words,the metal ring or insert is so constructed that there is no longitudinalor circumferential line running continuously through the metal parts,whereby to provide a substantial elasticity or quick-acting springaction in the circumferential direction of the skirt l4, thereby toafford a close and snug fitof the cap and hermetic closure of thebottle.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 3 and the skirt l6 and resilientmetallic insert I! are pre-curved or outwardly vaulted to insure acloser fit around the bead ll of the neck ID. The insert I! in thiscase, as in the case of Figures 1 and 2, may be punched from sheetmetal, preshaped and then heat treated to provide the requiredresiliency. It may be directly molded in the cap or otherwise embeddedtherein in any suitable manner.

The metal ring [5 or I! preferably constructed by bending of a metalstrip may be completely closed upon itself or formed with a slight gapbetween its abutting edges in the embedded or molded position of thering. In either case, the ring will act as a reinforcing member byproviding both added mechanical strength and quick-acting resiliency andinsuring a hermetic closure in the manner described above.

The metal ring I5 or I! constructed in the manner described will expandeasily when subjected to a force in the peripheral direction, uponapplying or forcing the cap onto the neck of a bottle or othercontainer, and return substantially instantly to its original shape uponremoval or relaxation of said force. The stiffness or elasticity of thering for any given material is dependent upon its thickness,cross-section and the number and depth of the slots or other recesseswhich, according to the invention, must extend beyond the center line oroverlap to prevent any longitudinal or circumferential line to runcontinuously through the metal parts. The ring being permanently set inthe plastic material, will be prevented from buckling and is protectedby the thermoplastic material against corrosion, oxidation and otherinfluences. This results in long life and various further advantageswell understood.

While we have shown and described a desirable embodiment of theinvention, it is understood that this disclosure is for the purpose ofillustration and that various changes in shape, proportion andarrangement of parts as well as the substitution of equivalent elementsand materials for those shown herein and described may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims, The specification and drawing are accordingly to beregarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

We claim:

1. A bottle cap comprising top and skirt portions of moulded plasticmaterial, and a closed cylindrical ring of relatively thin spring metalconcentrically moulded in said skirt portion, said ring having a seriesof relatively closely spaced transverse slots alternately extending tothe opposite edges thereof and overlapping each other i the center, toincrease the resiliency of said skirt in the circumferential direction,to thereby effect a hermetic and permanent seal by elastic pressure whensaid cap is forced over the mouth of a bottle.

2. A bottle cap comprising top and cylindrical skirt portions .ofmoulded thermoplastic material, and a closed concentric cylindrical ringof flat relatively thin spring metal moulded in said skirt portion, saidring having a series of relatively closely spaced transverse slotsalternately extending to the opposite edges thereof and overlapping eachother in the center, to increase the resiliency of said skirt portion inthe circumferential direction, to thereby effect a hermetic andpermanent seal by elastic pressure when said cap is forced over themouth of a bottle.

3. A bottle cap comprising a moulded thermoplastic top portion and acylindrical skirt portion of greater thickness, and a closed concentriccylindrical ring of fiat relatively thin spring metal moulded in saidskirt portion, said ring having a series of relatively closely spacedtransverse slots alternately extending to the opposite edges thereof andoverlapping each other in the center, to increase the resiliency of saidskirt portion in the circumferential direction, to thereby effect ahermetic and permanent seal by elastic pressure when said cap is forcedover the mouth of a bottle.

4. A bottle cap comprising a top portion and an outwardly curved skirtportion consisting of moulded thermoplastic material, and a closedcurved cylindrical ring of relatively thin sprin metal being moulded insaid skirt, said ring having a series of relatively closely spacedtransverse slots alternately extending to the opposite edges thereof andoverlapping each other in the center, to increase the resiliency of saidskirt portion in the circumferential direction, to thereby effect ahermetic and permanent seal if said cap is forced over the mouth of abottle.

IRVING ROSSI. WILLIAM DUBILIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof'this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 267,349 Hupfel Nov. 14, 18821,168,608 Davis Jan. 18, 1916 1,183,728 Grifiith May 16, 1916 1,616,950Burdette Feb. 8, 1927 1,905,356 West Apr. 25, 1933 2,030,059 FerngrenFeb. 11, 1936 2,074,830 Conner Mar. 23, 1937 2,214,842 Sweet Sept. 17,1940 2,445,889 Rossi et a1 July 27, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 27,731 Netherlands May 16, 1931

